Lighting attachment for gas-burners.



APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1910.

Patented July 8, 1913.

A [to r71 6 y.

JOSEPH K. RUSH, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

LIGHTING ATTACHMENT FOR GAS-BURNERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 8, 1913.

Application filed September 22, 1910. Serial No. 583,147.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Josnrn K. RUsIr, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Lighting Attachments for Gas-Burners, of which the following taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improve ments in ligl'iting attachment for gas burners as a new article of manufacture adapted to be attached or secured to an ordinary gas burner and connected to any suitable elec- 'tric sparking circuit.

One of the objects is to mount a pair of spark terminals upon an open sided base so as to form a unitary article of manufacture capable of being easily and quickly placed in operative position upon any ordinary gas burner in such manner that the entire device may be readily adjusted vertically to the desired position to the tip of the burner.

Another object is to produce the spark or are as nearly as possible in the center line of discharge of the gas from the jet and at the same time allow the terminals to normally rest some distance to one side of such jet away from the flame to prevent their deterioration by heat when the gas is ignited.

Other objects and uses will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings Figures 1-- and 2- are front elevations of a portion of a gas burner and my improved igniting device, being shown in its normal position in Fig. -1- and in its tensioncd position about to break contact for producing the necessary are in Fig. 2. Fig. 3-- is a side elevation of the same igniting device. Fig. 4- is an enlarged sectional view taken on line l-- l, Fig. 1 omitting the gas jet. Fig. -5- is an enlarged sectional View taken on line 5-5 Fig. -3 showing particularly the insulation for one of the terminals. Fig. -6 is a detail sectional view of the flexing cmmection between the sections of the flexible terminal. Fig. -7 is a sectional View taken on line 77, Fig. 3- showing particularly the retracting spring andlimiting stops for the manually operated terminal.

This igniting device is adapted to be secured to any form of gas burner or fixture as -A having a suitable tip a and comprises a segmental clamping ring or open base 1- and a pair of coacting spark terminals 2 and 3, one of which as the spark terminal --2 is adapted to be operated manually against the action of the retracting spring 4. and for this purpose is provided with a laterally projecting arm 5- to which is connected apendant operating cord or cable -6-, as clearly shown in Figs. land 2. The base 1 is preferably made of uniform thickness so that it may be made to fit any of the usual sizes of gas burners or ditlerent portions of the same burner to bring the sparking terminals in proper relation to the tips.

The terminal -2- and its crank arm.

constitute a bell-crank lever fulcrumcd upon a retaining screw or stud -7- which enters a post ----8- on one side of the segment or base -1- as best seen in Fig. l--, said lever being provided with radially projecting stop shoulders --2'- near its fulcrum and some distance apart to coact with a limiting stop pin 9- for limiting the oscillatory movement of the terminal -2. This terminal --2- constitutes one arm of the bell-crank lever and is somewhat longer than the operating arm -5-, its outer end terminating in a lateral ollsct -10- for engaging and operating the free end of the terminal 8-. This terminal -3 is preferably composed of a rigid section -1l and a movable section -12 flexibly connected to the rigid section --11 by a coiled spring 13 which is fitted upon and secured to the adjacent ends of the sections -11- and -12 in such manner as to allow free flexing action of the intermediate portion of the spring This spring is tensioned so as to normally hold the section --10 in axial alinement with the section 11 which latter is rigidly secured by suitable fastening means as screws 1-.l.- to one side of the segmental base l and is ii'isulated. therefrom by suitable insulation --15- as best seen in lfiigs. iland The terminal 2 is in direct electrical connection with the segmental base 1-- and fixture r\ so that the electrical conncctions from the spark circuit may be made directly to the fixture A- and rigid section -ll of the terminal 3. The terminals -2- and --3 are normally disposed at one side of the axis or line of proj cction of the gas from the jet (1-- and are also normally spaced some distance apart and electrically insulated from each other,

the terminal 2 being held in its normal position by the retracting spring -4 which has one end coiled around the post 8 and bearing against the stop pin 9- while its opposite end is extended laterally under the outer end of the operating arm 5 as best seen in Fig. -7.

As best seen in Fig. 3- the outer extremity of the terminal 3 is disposed in the path of movement of the offset portion .10 of the terminal -2-. The flexing connection between the sections 11 and -12. of the terminal 3 is disposed sub stantially midway of the length of the terminal arm 2 and constitutes a resilient hinge connection between such sections .per-

. mitting the section -12 to oscillate freely in any direction but more particularly in the direction of movement of the terminal 2. The outer ends of the terminal section 12 and terminal 2 therefore move in different arcs, the arc of movement of the outer end of the terminal section -12 intersecting that of the outer end of the terminal 2 as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1-, said terminals being arranged so that one intersection of their arcs of movement is in close proximity to the extended axis of the burner or tip a-. The object of this relative arrangement and c0- action is to cause the contact to be broken and the desired arc to be formed nearly in the line of exit of the gas from the burner and a suflicient distance from said burner to produce quick ignition.

Current may be derived from any suitable source of electric energy as a dry battery or similar comparatively inexpensive equivalent, not necessary to herein illustrate or describe, one side of the circuit being electrically connected to the fixture A- or terminal 2 while the other side may be connected to the terminal 3-, as shown more particularly in Figs. -1 and -2. The base segment 1- may be of any suitable conducting material and is preferably circular in cross section and adapted to fit upon the burner or fixture A- where it is held in position by a set screw -16 the end edge as l7 opposite the set screw being straight vertically as shown in Fig. 3 so as to engage the burner at points above and below the plane of the set screw to prevent lateral rocking movement of the igniting device when adjusted for use.

As previously stated the coacting ends of the terminals 2- and 3- are normally held apart some distance to one side of the axis of the jet or burnera and therefore away from the heat of the flame and when it is desired to ignite the gas-the latter may be turned on .in the usual manner and the terminal 2 then operated from its normal position by means of the pull cord 6 and crank arm 5 until it engages and moves the terminal section 12- to the point of intersection of the arcs of movement of said terminals or near the extended,

axis of the jet or burner a, whereupon the continued movement of the terminal 2 releases the terminal section -12- and permits thespring 13 to instantly return to its normal position, thereby producing a quick break and resultant arc or spark sufficient to ignite the escaping gas, the terminal 2 being then released and allowed to return to its normal'position by means of the spring -4- ready for repetition of the operation when desired. It will be observed upon reference to the drawings that the terminal section 12 is of any cross sectional form to afford a comparatively large surface area for the current and that during the igniting operation, the terminals -2 and 12 engage each other with a sliding contact, thereby maintaining the arcing efficiency at the break.

The flexible connection as the coil-spring -13 is of light resiliency or tension as compared with the retracting spring for-the terminal .2 so as to prevent the contacting parts from clinging together by frictional contact at the breaking point, thereby preventing any liability of short. circuits and producing a quicker break than would be possible 1f the retracting springs were of the same or similar tension. It will also be observed that by providing the open bend- V able supporting base as the segment .l, the entire device may be more easily and quickly installed upon fixtures of varying sizes than would be possible'with a solid base by reason of the fact that the segmental ring may be expanded or compressed to fit snugly upon the gas pillar, the ends of the segmental base being substantially straight or parallel with the axis of the pillar so as to form lengthwise bearings from top to bottom constituting lengthwise supportlng walls for firmly holding the gas lighter in proper position. This flexibility of the segmental ring permits it to be readily adjusted to various sizes of pillars so that it may be efiectively held in operative position without the use of extra fastening means, such as clamping bolts and nuts and the expense for drilling and tapping to receive such bolt, thereby reducing the number of parts to a minimum and permitting it to be manufactured at a comparatively small cost and easily and quickly installed in operative position which is a decided improvement in this art.

What I claim is: r An electric igniter for gas burners, comprising a clamping-member for engagement with the burner, a post carried by said clamping member, a bell crank lever pivoted on the post with its longer arm constituting one terminal of an electric lighting circuit,

a co-acting terminal comprising a fixed section and a movable section, the fixed section secured to the clamping member, a coil spring connecting the outer end of the fixed section with the inner end of the movable section, a lateral oil-set at the outer end of the longer arm of said bell crank, said longer arm of the bell crank movable in the arc of a circle to have said off-set engage the mov able section with the co-acting terminal, both of said terminals normally lying to one side of the burner, stops carried by the bell crank, and a pin carried by the clamping member to limit the throw of the bell crank lever in both directions, and a spring having 7 JOSEPH K. RUSH.

WVitnesses:

H. E. Cruse, E. F. SPEAKING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

